The session, according to Thursday's announcement, would focus on: removing budget protections that leave public colleges and health services more vulnerable to cuts, reviewing tax breaks to determine if they benefit the state and cutting other tax rates.

No specifics were given about the tax proposals.

The Republican senator said Gov. Bobby Jindal should be doing similar work to stop what Vitter described as a "never-ending cycle of budget chaos."

Jindal is term-limited in 2016. Besides Vitter, three other candidates say they're running in the Oct. 24 election: Republican Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle, Republican Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne and Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards.